United States President Donald Trump plans to sign executive orders ending diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) measures in the military, as well as entirely banning transgender service members.
Trump signed an executive order last week to end all government DEI programs within 60 days. All government DEI staff were immediately put on paid leave.
There can be “no accommodation for anything less than resilience, strength, and the ability to withstand extraordinary physical demands”, Trump’s order will reportedly say. “Individuals who are unable to meet these requirements are unable to serve in the military.”
The order would also reportedly prevent transgender service members from being referred to with their preferred pronouns, and assign sleeping and bathroom facilities according to sex at birth.
Trump attempted to ban transgender people from serving in the military during his first term. While recruitment was frozen, many existing transgender service members remained, and this order was reversed by the Biden administration in 2021.
“While some transgender troops do have surgery, the recovery time and cost is minimal, and is scheduled so as not to impact deployments or mission readiness,” said Sue Fulton, former Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs and senior adviser to transgender military advocacy organisation Sparta. “The readiness and physical capabilities of transgender service members is not different from that of other service members.”
Recently-confirmed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said another executive order would cover transgender people currently serving, but did not provide details.
Hegseth has frequently lambasted DEI programs, saying in a 2024 book: “We need to clean house of woke generals.” He has said women should not serve in combat roles, and has criticised renaming military bases named for Confederate generals.
These executive orders will also require the secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to review U.S. military academies’ curricula “to ensure these institutions eliminate radical DEI and gender ideologies”.
The orders will also reinstate troops who were discharged for refusing the Covid-19 vaccine.
Another executive order will ask the U.S. to construct a missile defence system similar to Israel’s Iron Dome, Hegseth said. This would use radar-guided missiles to intercept rockets and drones in the air.
